You're lucky C. Times, and the laws have changed. When I was but a newly registered lowly project architect, my firm forced me and my fellow low-paid staff architects - the ones toiling overtime and weekends doing the actual work for the firm (for no additional pay; that too has changed) - to stamp and seal all the documents the firm released. This was so, in the event of a lawsuit, the highly-paid principals and partners, who reviewed and approved all those documents, would be protected from any liability. In other words, we were essentially cannon fodder. Things are much different now.

looking forward to the premiere tomorrow night...excellent cast and the anthology format makes for what should be a fantastic series...looks like Noah Hawley is the writer for most (every?) episode...I wonder how involved the Coen Brothers are...would have been insane if they were the main showrunners/writers

I am watching it right now, to me its vastly different from the movie so far. Maybe that's why I am so intrigued, they state in the beginning its based on true stories. So now I wonder which is more accurate, the film or this series.

I am watching it right now, to me its vastly different from the movie so far. Maybe that's why I am so intrigued, they state in the beginning its based on true stories. So now I wonder which is more accurate, the film or this series.

I liked it too. Very offbeat with a unique tone for television. Quite funny at the beginning but took a very dark turn after the wife murder.

The only part I thought was weak was they put so much foreshadowing into the death of the chief it was very predictable that he wouldn't see next episode. I think the only thing they missed was saying he was a week away from retirement.

Delicious. Great mix of Fargo-the-movie-style humor and some grisly scenes, too. Doubt they'd have come this close to the original without the aid of the movie creators. -- John

If you haven't been following the discussion in HotP it was made clear the Coens had no input. They read the pilot to see what it was like and their names were added to the credits to acknowledge the original movie.

If you haven't been following the discussion in HotP it was made clear the Coens had no input. They read the pilot to see what it was like and their names were added to the credits to acknowledge the original movie.

And also to pay them off, perhaps. Very often an "executive producer" credit is given to somebody that has no other involvement in the show except to skim some cheddar off the top. You sometimes see lead actors getting them which is often just a way to boost their compensation without raising their official salaries. These "honorary" credits tend to accumulate over time, and can eventually result in the show being too expensive to produce any longer.

Watched Episode 1 tonight and was disappointed. I thought the performances of the show's cast were mostly wonderful but the writing, epic fail. Some of the supposedly humorous stuff was too over the top to have been used the writers of a sitcom that has a laugh track. On top of that, the show's darkness was just plain ugliness it seemed to me. Clearly, the writer of this mess wanted us to think of Anton Chigurh when we watched Lorne Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton). Unfortunately the writer of this episode will never be compared to the Coen brothers and sure as hell not with Cormac McCarthy whose great novel, No Country for Old Men, gave rise to the equally brilliant Coen brothers film of the same name and the genuinely scary psychopath, Anton Chigurh. All of that is a shame because the show's stars, Billy Bob Thornton and Martin Freeman were both wonderful. Unfortunately, even these two awesome talents couldn't breathe life into a screenplay that was both silly and unremittingly ugly.

All of the foregoing said, I am going to stick around for at least one more episode to see if the show can find a middle ground between cringeworthy farce and dark black ugliness. It's wonderful cast deserve that.

FWIW I wasn't expecting the quality of the movie; it is just a serial tv show after all. I just wonder how long can it go on at this rate and still keep my attention? ...think IMDB has a total of 10 episodes indicated and seems it should wrap up in the next episode....

I have this on my DVR to watch tonight. Heck, anything with Billy Bob is automatic watch for me.

To me, Fargo is a classic. And that means everything about it has been fried into my brain. How do you top William H. Macy's performance? You don't. I feel for Martin Freeman, because he has to step into those shoes and make the character his own. He did, and he performed well. But Macy became one of my favorite actors because of his portrayal of Jerry Lundegaard, and no one will ever be able to live up to his performance. So that's one reason why it took me 20 minutes or so to get into this series. Once in, it wasn't that bad. But I also know how it ends. So the question becomes; is it worth it for me to watch nine more episodes of a classic when the outcome is known? As much as I like Billy Bob, the answer is no. Besides, I have newer programs to watch.

I thought they portrayed too many people as a dumb fools. If I lived in Minnesota, I'd be offended and never watch another episode.

I wasn't expecting a clone of the movie, so maybe that's why I wasn't as disappointed as some here. I thought the pilot episode was a unique mix of humor and sudden, unexpected violence. That's a Coen Brothers trademark, so it's not surprising they'd use that formula. Contrary to portraying the locals as fools, I thought it mostly portrayed them as decent, salt o' the earth folks (except the ones we're supposed to hate). Especially the cops. The sheriff was portrayed as a fundamentally decent, honorable guy, which is why his sudden death was such a shock. But I kind of knew that was coming in order to move Greta into the lead spot. I wasn't trying to compare Martin Freeman with Macy, and Billy Bob was terrific in his usual understated way.

Truth is, it has been so long since I saw the movie it really didn't force itself into my evaluation of this series at all. I judged it on its own merits as a self-contained narrative and on those terms, quite enjoyed myself. I'm seeing this one through to the end.

Good to see Bob Odenkirk (Better call Saul) show up as a deputy, looks like a recurring role for Bob.

I wouldn't expect him back next season (which is supposed to involve a different narrative using the anthology approach). He'll be occupied filming 'Better Call Saul', the BB spinoff -- that's in "first position" for him.

Billy Bob made the show for me. Its been too long since he's had a role this good and he nailed it perfectly. The rest of the show was so-so. For everything I liked about it there was something else I didn't, so it would have been 50-50 whether I kept watching. But BBT pushed it into "must see" for me. He made me believe someone like his character could really exist, and I want to learn more about him. Great casting choice.

I wasn't expecting a clone of the movie, so maybe that's why I wasn't as disappointed as some here. I thought the pilot episode was a unique mix of humor and sudden, unexpected violence. That's a Coen Brothers trademark, so it's not surprising they'd use that formula. Contrary to portraying the locals as fools, I thought it mostly portrayed them as decent, salt o' the earth folks (except the ones we're supposed to hate). Especially the cops. The sheriff was portrayed as a fundamentally decent, honorable guy, which is why his sudden death was such a shock. But I kind of knew that was coming in order to move Greta into the lead spot. I wasn't trying to compare Martin Freeman with Macy, and Billy Bob was terrific in his usual understated way.

Truth is, it has been so long since I saw the movie it really didn't force itself into my evaluation of this series at all. I judged it on its own merits as a self-contained narrative and on those terms, quite enjoyed myself. I'm seeing this one through to the end.

My disappointment with the TV iteration of Fargo was with the writing, which I thought was clumsy, gratuitously violent, and a waste of a great cast. Nevertheless, I thought changing the story from the movie in a number of ways was a good choice. As noted in my earlier post, I really liked Martin Freeman, as Lester Nygaard, and Billy Bob Thornton, as the lethal Lorne Malvo. They did the best they could with what they were given. For those reasons I am going to stick with the show for a while. On a more positive note, the early returns at IMDB reflect that those who have voted mostly loved the show. So what do I know.

I wasn't planning on watching the show, but with the way FX has been promoting it for the past few months I decided to check it out. +I only saw the movie once, and that was probably when it first came out on VHS and that would have been when I was like 11 or 12 years old. I don't remember much of the movie, just remember it being kinda stupid with a lot of goofy accents and something about a woodchipper. The pilot of the TV show I thought was fantastic! I don't know if this show is supposed to be intentionally funny, but I laughed a lot ll thought out. I loved when Billy Bob Thornton's character told Hess that his younger son was 'dim', which pretty much describes the whole cast. Loved the way Sam Hess died, that was hysterical, and I just about fell off the bed when Thornton called up pretending to be the lawyer and then the older Hess kid beat the younger one with the hockey stick. Also laughed pretty hard when Nygaard hit his wife with the hammer and the blood slowly started to run down her forehead. I feel like I'm laughing more at the show then with the show, but as long as there's moments of stupid humor and lots of violence I'll stay entertained and will continue to watch.